A story from Cliffy, the Wannabe Climber

This past weekend, I went out to Sisters Wilderness and hiked in 7 miles toCamp Lake. My plan was to spend Friday night at the lake, wake up early andascend the north ridge of South Sister and descend the northwest ridge. ThenSunday, wake upearly again and ascend the southeast ridge of Middle Sister, descend and hike out. 5 miles into the hike to Camp Lake, I got to pull out my new Garmin 62s GPS. I needed it, the entire way was packed in snow.Thankfully, before I left, I downloaded the trail onto the GPS and just followed it all the way to the lake. Though my Jedi insights would have taken me there, I'm trying to catch up with the new world of technology. When I got to the lake and made my camp, I took a closer look at the north ridge. I decided, even with two ice tools, the steepness and exposure of a westerly traverse around a rockband at 9600 ft. was a bit much for me to solo. So, I drank whiskey to ease my vajj. After a long night with a million mosquitoes and the sounds of ice breaking off into the lake, I overslept my alarm. When I woke, I scrambled a pack together and started off for Middle Sister at 8:30. The hiking was superior. at 8,200 ft., I hit a snag. Go left or right around a rock outcrop? I chose the high road (right) and stumbled into an overhanging rock that went about 40 ft. up. No way! I thought about the 40 minutes I would have to backtrack and then the other time it would take me to get around the other side. But, before I made that decision, I looked right again. And there before me was a mock looking chimney with glacier ice on one side and solid rock on the other. I whipped out a single crampon for my right foot, grabbed my axe and before I knew it Iwas shimmying my way up. That was the best 40 feet of climbing ever. Super fun! As I got off the chimney, I made mywayup the ridge and jumped into a gully to get off the scree. I followed the southeast ridgeline until it met up with another southern ridge to form 'the summit ridge'. Once on the summit ridge, I knew I only had 500 more feet of climbing to go. However, once I got there, due to my late start, the snow was mush. Once again I felt my vajj starting to ache when I looked down on both sides. I didn't go for it. The loneliness was setting in. It was 11:30 am and I decided to glissade back to camp. I screamed down in 25 min. Seriously, I went fast! I took my shell pants off and was deciding on whether to bail or have another crack in the morning. 5 seconds later, I was engulfed in mosquitoes again, so I packed up and hit the trail well aware of the icy cold beer sitting in the cooler in the back of my truck. Mmmmmmm, beeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrr. Delicious it was!